Fax Cover Letter

Are you wanting to fax some important documents but don't know where to put your personal or business contact information? A fax cover letter is your solution. It lets a person receiving the fax know what your fax will be about and how they can contact you should the need arise. Continuing reading below for tips, examples and a free Fax Cover Letter template that you can download and customize using Word.

Fax Cover Letter Template

Author: Brent Weight and Jon Wittwer

Fax Cover Letter vs. Fax Cover Sheet

There is a difference between a fax cover letter and a fax cover sheet. The cover letter is a more personal detailed informative page whereas the cover sheet is less personal and usually includes much less information. A cover letter usually is sent along with resumes and other business reports to non-familiar entities. A cover sheet usually accompanies a document where the correspondents are somewhat familiar with each other. For a cover sheet, you can download our Fax Cover Sheet Template.

Tips for Fax Cover Letters

• Keep it simple. Too much information will quickly throw off your recipient and make them less likely to care about what's in the rest of your fax.
• Keep it neat and clean. Your fax cover letter is a representation of what your recipient will see in the rest of your transmission. Use clean and concise language. Just because you understand a word does not mean the recipient will, so avoid using slang terms and technical jargon.
• Give as much information as necessary to keep the recipient wanting to read through the rest of the fax. If you give them too much information, the recipient will think they have read enough to get the gist of it.
• Pay attention to the recipient's business hours. Some businesses may be open until 8 or 9 but they only want to get faxes between the hours of 8 to 6. If received later, the information may be marked as received the following business day.
• Long letters are less likely to be read, so keep your fax cover to one page.
• Make sure a fax cover letter is marked as CONFIDENTIAL if the accompanying documents are confidential.

Sample Fax Cover Letters

Example 1 - Fax Containing Documents to Sign

The ABC Barn
123 S. 1000 E. Ste. 1
Business Town, Business State 12345
(123) 456-7890
www.abcbarn.com

TO: C.E.O. Gary Fischer
(987) 654-3210

FROM: C.E.O Sarah Tobler
(123) 456-7890

DATE: 1/1/15
Pages: 5 (Including cover letter)

The following pages contain the summary of our plans to incorporate your recently acquired company into our business circle and will outline what we plan to do with everyone that worked for you. Also included is a copy of the purchase agreement that we have both signed as part of this merge.

I am sending this fax to you so that you and I both have a copy of the plans and an extra copy of the purchase agreement and I would appreciate it if you could send me back a signed copy so that I know that you received my fax and that you are ok to proceed with our company's plans.

Example 2 - Fax Cover Letter for Submitting a Resume

James Henry III
1 Fiji Way
Your Town, Your State 98765
568 974-2013
www.myresume.com

TO: Taco Tower H.R.
(987) 654-3210

FROM: James Henry III
(123) 456-7890

DATE: 1/1/15
Pages: 3 (Not including cover page)

This fax contains my Resume and the accompanying cover letter for the position as Assistant Manager at your 2398 Kings Way location.

I am sending this fax in response to the ad I found on craigslist advertising for the Assistant Manager position and, once you read the contents of this fax, you will see that with my background I am extremely qualified for the job and I hope to hear back from you soon.

References and Resources

• Microsoft Template Gallery - templates.office.com - Includes a few Fax Cover templates.
• The Scanner-Friendly Resume - www.njit.edu - Provides tips for making a resume that can be easily and correctly read by a scanner.
• Choosing an Online Fax Service - labnol.org - This article can help you figure out what to do when you need to send a fax without access to a fax machine.
• How to Make a Simple Cover Letter - yourbusiness.azcentral.com - A step-by-step guide to making a fax cover letter using different computer programs.

Disclaimer: The content on this page is intended for educational use and not to be construed as legal or professional advice.